


How it started

by 01bumblebeefan



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Animated (2007)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Dentistry, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Mention of blood, Multi, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 08:15:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29805522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/01bumblebeefan/pseuds/01bumblebeefan
Summary: Bulkhead and Bumblebee have hidden a secret from the rest of Team Prime for many of years without getting caught. But what is that secret? Well this story follows them back to the days of boot camp, months before they were kicked out and months before they decided to keep it secret from everybody else.Follow along to see what chaos unfolds during their time in boot camp and watch as love blooms in a time of regret and hurt.(Oh god I made this sound like some soap oprea! XDI'm sorry! But the jist of it is that the story follows Bulkhead, Longarm and Bumblebees lives back after the "incident" in boot camp.)
Relationships: Bulkhead & Bumblebee, Bulkhead & Longarm, Bumblebee & Bulkhead, Hubcap & Roadbuster, Hubcap/Roadbuster (Transformers), Optimus Prime & Ratchet, Optimus Prime/Ratchet
Comments: 12
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

Bulkhead yawns as he starts walking down the hallway carrying his sleeping little buddy towards the barracks. It had been a tough day full of stopping Wasp and Ironhide from trying to hurt Bumblebee, getting the Mini to his special classes, going to and from the nurses office to receive his medicine and catching his little buddy when the little guy suddenly thought he could fly.

"You're a servo full little buddy." Bulkhead sighs as he peeks at his sleeping friends face. "But I love you."

Walking into the barracks Bulkhead was quickly made angry when he saw Wasp and Ironhide trying to break into Bumblebees footlocker and locker. Why were they like this? Why couldn't Bulkhead and Bee been given a better platoon or at least a transfer?

Walking over to the duo he quickly forms his wrecking ball. "Hey! What in Primus' name do you think you're doing?!"

Bulkhead stopped when he heard the angry voice of Longarm and watched the grey bot walk over to the duo. "You two have already been terrible to Bumblebee and now your trying to rob him as well?" The mech asks, seeming to seethe. 

"Come on now Longarm, you and Bulk for brains already pummeled us while he was in the hospital so don't you think we should get to take one thing from the loser?" Ironhide asks with a frown.

"Loser? Bulk for brains?" Longarm snarls. "You really don't care do you?! He almost died and you two don't give two slags! Did you suddenly forget that he was in the hospital because of you two and those horrid twins?!"

"Hey! He was in there because he decided to put a blaster to his head after a few misunderstandings!" Wasp yelled out, taking a step forward.

"Misunderstandings? Misunderstandings?!" Longarm shouted, the gem on his forehead shining red. "All he ever did was be nice to you and look up to you and all YOU ever did was put him down and made him regret living enough that he WOULD put the blaster to his head. Whether you like it or not Wasp, Ironhide, you two and those twins are the reason that Bumblebee was in that room, why he wrote those notes and why he was in the hospital."

Wasp and Ironhide flinched slightly but still gave Longarm dirty looks. "I honestly wish I could look at you and see warriors but I do not." Longarm growls. "Even though one of of you even fought in the war and you still refuse to even try to acknowledge that what you did was wrong and that you shouldn't only feel bad for it but you should regret your choices and prepare for the consequences."

Ironhide and Wasp look away but one of them saw Bulkhead and Bumblebee not to far away. So Ironhide grabbed Wasps' arm and walked away with him as Bulkhead walks them over.

"Thanks for doing that Longarm." Bulkhead spoke gently, carefully moving Bumblebee off of his shoulder and close to his chest.

"Hey, it's his first day back and I want him to be comfortable and not get robbed." The bulky bot chuckles softly. "How's he doing today anyways? How'd he do in his walking class?"

"He walked for a full minute before falling down! New milestone!" Bulkhead said cheerfully.

"That's great!" Longarm smiled.

Bulkhead walked to Bumblebees bed and gently laid his little buddy down before giving his cheek a little peck. "Rest well little buddy." He whispers as he carefully tucks him in.

Longarm gives a sad smile when he heard Bumblebee chirp and click softly. The poor thing had been slowly begun speaking in sparkling since the "incident", as Sentinel has begun calling it, and has been having to go to special classes to teach him more words and how to pronounce them so he doesn't forget how to to speak properly.

When Bulkhead stood Longarm headed back to his bed until he heard a soft sniffle. Looking towards Bulkhead he saw the big guy wiping at his optics, his other servo shaking uncontrollably. "Bulkhead? Are you ok?" Longarm asks gently.

"Y-Yes..." Bulkhead lied.

"Bulkhead..."

"No! No I'm not!" Bulkhead let out a sob and sat down on his berth.

Longarm quickly walked over to Bulkhead, now worried for the big lug. He'd spent a lot of time with him during the months of visiting Bumblebee in hospital and from beating the bullies up together so he grew to care for Bulkhead.

"Wh-Why did this have to happen to him?! Why is he still even here?! Why do they still want him to train? He's afraid of his own shadow an-and he forgets things that he was just told. He...He tried to eat a color pen earlier Longarm. I mean it was cute because when he couldn't do it he just pouted for half an hour. B-But still-!" Bulkhead sniffles. "He should be recovering somewhere but he's forced to be here, where he felt s-so scared and sad that he tried to...to..."

Longarm gently rubbed the big bots shoulder and gave a soft sigh as he looked to the sleeping bug. The stark white bandages around his head and the patch over his optic a constant reminder of what happened. Sighing he shook his head. "The elite guard seems to be desperate for new soldiers if they want him to still be apart of them."

Bulkhead sniffles and rubs at his optics. "I couldn't protect him Longarm. I-Is this my fault? Am I the reason why he's like this now?" He whispers.

"What? No, no, no! Bulkhead why would you think that?!" Longarm quickly asks.

"I-I promised him I'd protect him. I promised I'd keep the nightmares away but...but all I did was hold his servo a few times and - _hic!_ \- and sit with him at lunch! Now he...he..." Bulkhead seemed to not be able to continue as he watched his little buddy sleep.

Longarm looked up at him then at Bumblebee. He didn't know what to say because he knew Bulkhead would keep blaming himself for everything, no matter what he said. Shaking his head Longarm gently held Bulkheads pincher. Together they sat there, listening to Bumblebee breathe.

* * *

_**The next day** _

Longarm sighs as he stretched a bit as he worked on his homework from Sentinel about military gear. Looking to the clock he sighs again. It'd only been ten minutes since the others left to do drills and "schooling" but it had honestly felt like an hour ago. Since Bumblebees "incident" he wasn't allowed to be alone and the doctors had forced Sentinel to give him days off in the week so today he had been chosen for Bumblebee watch. Speaking of which where is he?

Looking around he spots Bumblebee examining his blocks on the floor before he places a block on top of another. Longarm watches Bumblebee attempt to place a toy block onto another but it ends up just toppling to the ground. He frowns and waits to see what Bumblebees response would be. "Oh. Let me try again." Bumblebee frowns as he picks up a block and attempts to do it again.

Longarm watched Bumblebee attempt to place blocks on top of each other for a bit longer before standing and walking over to him. "What are you doing Bumblebee?" He asks gently.

"Huh?" Bumblebee asks, holding a block with a b on it. "Oh! Hi Longarm! I'm trying to spell Bulkys name with blocks! He's been sad lately and I thought I'd do something nice for him!"

Longarm smiles softly before looking to the blocks. His smile wavered but be still held it when Bumblebee made a proud chirp when he got the B block onto the little tower. "Good job Bumblebee!" Longarm praised. "But maybe you should draw him a picture or color him something instead?"

Bumblebee quickly felt crestfallen. Was his tower bad? Did it not spell "Bulkhead" like he thought it did? Crawling around the tower he looks at the letters but he couldn't figure out what it said. For him the letters were all glitched and scratched out instead of how they looked for everyone else.

"Your tower is amazing Bumblebee but you should make something for him that Wasp, Ironhide, The Mean Twins and Sentinel can't ruin. This they can easily topple over." Longarm quickly says when he saw the sad look.

Bumblebee nodded in agreement and crawled to his foot locker. Opening the lid with a swipe of a card he pulls out a few empty drawing pads and some colored pens. Crawling back to Longarm he shows him the datapads proudly. He had remembered where he put them!

Climbing onto his recharge slab he puts the pads down and picks up a black pen. He chewed on the top of it as he thought of what to draw. Looking around he noticed that Bulkheads locker was open slightly. Climbing off of his slab he walks over and peeks inside.

On the doors he saw pictures of Bulkhead and himself caught under the metal of the locker door. Looking down he saw a tiny gift box on top of some folded blankets and a photo album beside the blankets. Carefully picking up the album he opens it to see a picture of Bulkhead with a orange faced mech that he instantly remembered.

"Breakdown." He whispers as he touches the photo gently.

Laying down on his stomach on his berth he grabs a drawing pad and starts to draw. He looked up every so often at the photos but other than that he didn't break focus. Not even when Longarm sat next to him and started to pet his back. But he did let his engines purr to show he appreciated it.

After a little while Bumblebee had filled the drawing pad with a sort of story book for Bulkhead. Looking back at Longarm he noticed that he had fallen asleep while watching him, an extended arm laying against his back. Smiling he puts the data pad down and climbs up to Longarms face.

"Goodnight Longarm." He whispers as he presses a kiss to his cheek.

Climbing back down he uses his drawing pads speech to text to add some words to the drawings. So he had completely missed Longarms fave turning red from the simple gesture. It took some time but Bumblebee completed the story book and placed it aside.

Grabbing the photo album he gives it a hug before placing it into Bulkheads locker carefully. Closing the door he jumped when the lunch bell went off which startled Longarm into falling off the berth. Bumblebee couldn't hold back a giggle as Longarm slowly appeared from over the edge and glared daggers at the bell on the wall.

Longarm stood and dusted himself off before walking round the recharge slab. "Come on Bumblebee, lunch time." He gives a gentle smile.

Bumblebee quickly hid his drawing pads in his footlocker before walking over to Longarm and lifting his arms up. He smiles happily when he was lifted up and he was able to lay his head on Longarms shoulder. A soft sigh of relief came from him when a sudden wave of safety washed over him.

He always felt safest with Longarm and Bulkhead.

_A few minutes later_

Longarm sets Bumblebee down at Bulkheads table carefully so he could go and get their meals. He watched Bumblebee quickly climb over the table so he could sit in Bulkheads lap with a smile before continuing on his mission. Grabbing two trays he heard the whole canteen quickly grow quiet when the doors opened. The canteen only had The Lambo Twins, Bumblebee, Bulkhead, Wasp, Ironhide and himself in it but it could get quite loud.

Turning he was shocked to see Ultra Magnus walking into the canteen with a colorful box in hand. He looked around for a moment before seeing Bumblebee and started for him. Quickly rushing back over from the trays Longarm stood in front of a rapidly clicking Bumblebee and a growling Bulkhead. He knew that when Bumblebee started to click like that it meant that he was scared which made Bulkhead go into protective mode.

The Magnus stared down at them for a moment before looking over Longarms shoulder. "Good afternoon sir. What do we owe the pleasure of seeing the Magnus?" Longarm asks as he makes himself taller to block the bots view.

"I came to pay a visit to cadet Bumblebee. I was told that his creation day would be in two days so I thought I'd bring him a present now since I won't be here on his creation day. Family matters I need to attend to." The large bot replies.

Longarm shares a look with Bulkhead and frowns before looking back to the Magnus. "A present sir?" He questions.

Ultra holds out the colorful box to Longarm with a slight frown. "Yes, a present."

Longarm took the box and looked it over. It looked ok, no visible trackers or microphones. Turning to Bumblebee he chuckled slightly when he saw Bumblebee attempting to hide himself in Bulkheads arms. "Bumblebee, it's ok. Come on out." He spoke gently.

Bumblebee let out a cautious chirp as he peeked over Bulkheads arm, his fingers gripping the edge of it. "That's it, it's ok. It's just a present." Longarm smiles gently.

The bug looked up to Bulkhead then to the gift. Leaning forward he sniffs it a few times before attempting to bite it. A clear sign he was curious. So Longarm placed it on the table and watched Bumblebee lift the lid, flinching back in case something springed out at him.

But when nothing did he pulled the box closer and peered inside. Reaching inside he found something soft and squishy on top. Slowly pulling it out he placed it down on the table and his engines instantly purred. It was a plush version of Megatron from his gladiator days but it seemed to have been given red eyes instead of the blue they used to be.

Bumblebee instantly pulled it to his chest and cuddled it happily. Reaching back into the box he pulls out some new colored pens in colors he didn't have then a lot more drawing pads. Placing them onto the table he pulls out some bulk sized bags of his favorite snacks and a large box of rust sticks.

Bumblebee kept pulling things out of the box and before to long he had a little mountain of drawing pads, two packs of colored pens, a plush Ultra Magnus, a plush Megatron, a music player with a Rosanna CD, a ring of chewy keys, two bulk sized bags of his favorite crisps, two big boxes of rust sticks, a box of special Energon goodies (they're made from medical grade energon), a workbook that teaches you about letters and numbers, a sweater and a small pillow with a cyber kitten on it.

Bumblebee laid his head down on the little pillow and cuddled with his plushies, his engines loudly purring. He loved his gifts even if he hated the bot who gave them to him. Looking up to Ultra Magnus he clicks at him twice making Bulkhead chuckle.

"He says thank you!" Bulkhead tells Magnus. "Sometimes he doesn't remember certain words so he chirps or clicks."

Ultra Magnus nods with a soft smile. "Ah. Thank you for explaining that to me."

Bulkhead nods and watches Bumblebee attempt to tear open his snack bag of crisps with his denta. "Hey, hey you little scraplet! Ask and I'll open it for you!" He laughs.

Bumblebee looks up at Bulkhead with the snack bag in his mouth before turning around and looking Bulkhead in the optics. "Help..."

Bulkhead chuckles and takes the bag from Bumblebees mouth and opens the bag to see a ton of smaller bags inside. When Bumblebee saw the smaller bags he seemed to get an idea and took the bag gleefully. He placed down a few bags for himself, Bulkhead and Longarm before jumping off of Bulkheads lap.

Running over to the "Bully" table he drops some bags onto their table then he rushes over to the lunch bots and gives them a few bags. They all smiled and accepted them, one of them even trading Bumblebee a bottle of energon milk for the bag. When Bumblebee made it back to the table he held out a bag to Ultra Magnus who took it with a soft smile.

When Bumblebee sat back down on Bulkheads lap he had given away half of the bulk bag but he was happy. Now everyone had a yummy snack and he had a bottle of his favorite drink ever. Popping open the lid Bumblebee happily chugged down the milk, kicking his feet as he did.

Bulkhead gave a soft chuckle as he pets Bumblebees head with one servo and wrapped his other arm around Bumblebees middle. "Slow little buddy, slow. You don't wanna get the hiccups do ya?" Bulkhead chuckles.

Bumblebee didn't listen, even though he knew Bulky was right, and just continued to chug until the bottle was empty. Putting the empty bottle down he gave a content sigh and wiped at his face. "Yum, yum?" Bulkhead asks to which Bumblebee nods.

"Bulky, just because I have half a processor now doesn't mean I'm a sparkling." Bumblebee smiles up at his big friend.

"R-Right. Sorry little buddy." Bulkhead says in embarrassment.

"It's ok Bulky! I like it sometimes." Bumblebee smiles as he opens his little bag of crisps and starts munching happily.

Bulkhead chuckles and leans his head as best as he could on Bumblebees.

* * *

Longarm watches Bumblebee silently hug his Megatron plush as he colored something on his bed. He should be ok if he left for a moment right? "Bumblebee? I'm gonna go to the bathroom, will you be ok if I leave you here?" He asks.

Bumblebee looks up and with a sleepy look on his face he nods slightly before going back to his coloring. Yawning he continues coloring, his pen slipping from his grasp a few times. Looking up he watches Longarm walk out of the barracks before he rests his head on his arms for a little nap with his Megatron plush tucked under his chin for safety.

A few moments later the barracks doors open again and Sentinel walks in carrying a drill and some strange little barriers. Walking straight to Bumblebees recharge slab he watches Bumblebee sleep for a moment before slipping a pair of audio blockers onto his head.

Moving to the front of the slab he starts to drill one of the barriers onto the side. "Barriers first, bandages second, reflexes third and nap fourth." Sentinel spoke to himself.

Sighing he moves around to put the other barrier on but then he noticed the condensation forming on the minis back. Frowning he places the barrier and drill down on Bulkheads slab and gently laid a servo on Bumblebees back only to rip it away a second later. Quickly pulling a scanner out of his subspace he runs it over the minis body only for the scan to come back red.

"Oh primus." He whispers. Quickly picking up Bumblebee he runs for the exit and passed Ironhide. "Get a medic and bring them to the showers!"

Ironhide was confused as he watched Sentinel run away carrying Bumblebee but he did as he was told and ran to get a medic. He ran straight past the lambo twins which got them curious. "Hey 'hide! What's the big rush?" They yelled as they ran with him.

"Medical emergency! Showers!" Ironhide yelled before he transformed and zipped off a head to the nurses office.

The twins stopped and looked to each other before running towards the showers. They may not be medics but more than half of their family is and you don't grow up in a family full of medics without learning a few things. So they ran as fast as they could to the showers to hear one of them running near the main entrance.

Rushing over they were shocked to see Sentinel cradling a sobbing Bumblebee to his chest. The bugs face looked flushed and his whole body was shaking and jerking with his cries. "You're gonna be ok kid, you're gonna be ok. Ironhide is getting a medic ok?" Sentinel whispers to the bug, attempting to hold him steady.

"What happened?" Sideswipe asks first, watching Bumblebee attempt to get away from the cold solvent spraying down on them.

"Overheated." Sentinel simply replied, not taking his optics off of Bumblebee. "Docs said it could happen since he's lost some processing power."

Sunstreaker looked down at the weak bug and suddenly felt...bad. He felt bad knowing that part of the reason the bug lost the ability to control it was because of the "jokes" he'd pull on the kid. Yeah...like stabbing somebody could be considered a joke.

Crouching down he attempts to touch the bugs servo only to be forced to pull his servo back when the bug screamed in fear. Sunstreaker stands and backs up as Longarm rushes in with Red Alert, Ironhide and Bulkhead. "What happened?" Red Alert quickly asks as she rushes over.

"I walked in to put the barriers on his slab like you told me to and I found him asleep but there was condensation on his armour. I touched his back and he burned me so I scanned him and found that his temperature had begun rising quickly." Sentinel quickly explains, starting to shiver from the ice cold solvent pelting him.

Red Alert nodded and turned the solvent off. "Somebody get me a towel!" She shouts out, gently taking Bumblebee into her arms. Almost immediately he calmed down and snuggled against her chest. "His temperature has dropped quite a bit. Good job Sentinel."

Sentinel nods as Red Alert stands and quickly carries Bumblebee out. The group of bots all look around before Sentinel stands up while clearing his throat. "Cadet Longarm, you were ordered to stay with the Bumbler and not to leave him alone. Where were you?" He asks with a scowl.

"I was using the restroom. I had only left him alone for maybe ten seconds! I still have to go! I only turned around when I heard Ironhide racing out of the barracks like a pack of scraplets were on his bumper!" Longarm quickly defended himself.

"Then you should've took him with you!" Sentinel growls, quickly becoming angry.

Longarm growls back, baring a pair of sharp looking fangs. He was really starting to lose it! "Look here you mistake of a Minor, I had to use the toilet, he was fine, he was just tired. I have been trying to pay as much attention as I can to him but you were the one who assigned me a homework packet the size of TARN!" He shouted.

"We all know that you are petty enough to require it to be in the next day even if somebody has "babysitting duty" with Bumblebee so he either doesn't get the attention he needs or deserves. Then the next day you'll punish us all by making us do transform ups even though Bumblebee can't even transform fully yet. Then you'll punish us even more! You know his limitations yet you refuse to acknowledge them! You refuse to acknowledge him as his own self! You don't even call him by his name."

Sentinel frowns and steps back a bit. "We all know you hate him Sentinel. The only question I can think of even asking you is...is why! Why is he warranted of your hate?! He's still a kid for primus sake!" Longarm steps forward, his legs and arms expanding as he did. "The doctors told us he's only 16! 16! What could a 16 year old do to warrant enough hate that you'd torture him!?"

Sentinel backed up until his back hit the shower wall, listening to Longarm. He never did understand why he hated Bumblebee so much. He's only known him for 4 years and he's done next to nothing to him except give him a drawing of a cyber kitten when he got sick.

Looking down Sentinel couldn't speak, he was just ashamed and a bit...worried. He actually felt worried over the bug. "What? Don't wanna run your mouth now?! Does it feel bad being yelled at like this? Are you scared? How do you think Bumblebee has felt all these months? How much fear he felt, how much _pain_ he felt because of you, your ego and the rest of these idiots in this platoon that aren't Bulkhead and I!" Longarm shouted again.

The room went quiet for a moment before there was a semi loud crunch. The group of bots look over to the right and see Wasp just standing there, munching on the bag of crisps that Bumblebee had given him earlier. "I feel like I missed something." Wasp frowns. "But I came in to say that a Kup Minor and a Springer Prime want to see Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Sentinel, Ironhide and myself in the training area. Now."

Longarm slowly returned to normal height and smirks at the dismay on The Twins' faces. "Have fun." He chuckles before heading for the exit, taking one of Bulkheads arms in his. "I take it Bulkhead, Bumblebee and myself have a free week right?"

"Kup said he'll tell you when to come back...what's going on?" Wasp frowns. "What did I miss?"

Longarm just chuckles and walks along with Bulkhead, feeling just a smidge better. "Hey Bulkhead? You said your parents live out in the country side right? Think they'd mind if we brought Bee out there?" He asks with a smirk.

"Mind? Pit no! More than likely you and Bee are gonna be fawned over by my carrier as soon as you step foot into that house! You two are way to skinny!" Bulkhead laughs, in a happier mood now that he knows that the glitch heads will be sorted out. "I'll call 'em in the nurses office! This is gonna be so much fun!"

Longarm smiles and leans against Bulkheads arm. He liked it better when the big lug smiled. It made his spark skip a beat...wait a second.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! I would like to thank http://raysofsinshine.tumblr.com for allowing me to use their headcannon of Cybertronians having dentists for this chapter!
> 
> Also this chapter got a bit away from me so it is pretty long and I wasn't able to fit any farm fun for the trio so it'll be in tbe next chapter!

Longarm watches Bumblebee color in a coloring pad for a moment before looking to the door where Bulkhead was listening to Red Alert explain a new medical...thing for Bumblebee. Supposedly it was gonna help control his body temperature and stop the over heating.

"Longarm?"

Longarm looks over to see Bumblebee chewing on a coloring pen, a frown on the bugs face. "You ok Bumblebee?" He asks gently. He tried to rack his processor for the answer to the mannerism when he realised the time. "Oh. It's dinner time. You're hungry aren't you?"

Bumblebee nods as the pen in his mouth cracks. "Ok, no more chewing on pens." Longarm quickly took the damaged pen and gave Bumblebee his chewy keys. "Chew on this instead ok? We'll get something to eat at the station when we leave."

"Station?" Bumblebee frowns as he chews on one of the strange shaped keys. He had no idea why he suddenly wanted to bite at things but honestly he didn't care. He liked the texture on the chewable. "Are we going somewhere?"

"We're gonna go visit Bulkheads family in the country, get away from the jerks here." Longarm smiles gently, sitting on the edge of the medical berth.

Bumblebee thought about it for a moment before he nods. It sounded like fun. Visiting the bots who brought Bulkhead into the world and being able to ride in a train! Oh...oh that sounded a bit odd with how he phrased it. Maybe he should say visiting Bulkheads parents. That sounds better.

"That sounds like fun. Plus they live on a farm so that'd be cool to visit." Bumblebee smiles until his vision suddenly gave out. "...if I can see them..."

Longarm frowns and reaches out to touch Bumblebees face but when his fingers grazed the bugs cheek Bumblebee flinches back so fast he whacks his head back on the wall. "Ouch!" Bumblebee yelps.

Rubbing his head Bumblebee sighs and pouts, his cheeks puffed up. "What happened?" Red Alert asks quickly, worried about her patient.

"I scared him by accident when I tried to help him restart them he jerked back and whacked his head on the wall." Longarm quickly explains, already looking over Bumblebees head for any new energon spots on the bandages.

Red Alert frowns but nods. "I'll put that into his file."

Longarm nods and looks over to Bulkhead. The big lug seemed to not notice that Bumblebee had gotten hurt from how concentrated on the pamphlet in his pinchers. "When can he leave? We need to make a train." Longarm asks, wrapping a arm around Bumblebee.

"You can leave after I run one last scan on Bumblebees head, give you his medicine refills and his new prescription." Red Alert said over her shoulder. "But under no circumstances do I want him lifting anything heavy, left alone, eating more pens and missing a dose. He needs to take his medication everyday to restrengthen his processor so his self repair systems will get the kick start it needs."

"If he needs his processor to be restrengthened then why don't you proscribed him enriched energon?" Longarm asks with a small frown.

Red Alert sighs softly and looks over to Longarm. "You're young so I won't blame you for not knowing." She frowns. "It was ok back during the war but now that it's ended it's frowned upon and thought of as Taboo so don't bring it up again. Got it?"

Longarm frowns and looks to Bumblebee then to Red Alert. "So it's ok if it happened back in a war but is bad if it's done now? What kind of logic is that? It's a great way to make sure that a bot is fed and heals quicker." He states as he crosses his arms, seeming to have forgotten that Bumblebee was wrapped up in one until he had to do a double take when Bumblebee was suddenly next to him.

Bumblebee continues chewing on his chewy keys, not seeming to mind being manhandled. Growling at said keys he bit a tad bit to hard and broke the chewy part in his mouth. The sudden look of "Oh no." on the bugs face made Longarm both laugh and worry at the same time.

"Well...now I know not to get those for him again." Red Alert frowns.

Bulkhead finally looked up from the pamphlet and gave a chuckle. "You ok little buddy?" He asks, walking over.

"Ah bwoke it." Bumblebee tries to say, the broken key stuck on one of his cuspids.

Bulkhead laughs and carefully tries to pry the key off of his dentae but found it to be really, really stuck on there. "Oh no." Bulkhead chuckles nervously, not knowing what to do.

Longarm holds in his laugh as Red Alert gets a pair of needle nose pliers from her desk drawer. "Don't worry Bumblebee, we'll get it off." He smiled gently, the gem on his head glowing slightly.

Bumblebees attention was quickly directed to the glowing gem. He watched it for a moment, feeling like he remembered that glow from somewhere. He was so distracted that he didn't notice that Red Alert had removed the key from his dentae...but unfortunately it came out with the key.

Bulkhead gasped in shock while Longarm hides Bumblebees face in his shoulder, his optics wide. Red Alert looked to the bloody dentae in her pliers before looking at the other two. "Ok you can leave after you get this put back in, I run a scan on his processor, get his medicine and get his new prescription."

"You just pulled his dentae out!" Bulkhead cried out, seeming to be in shock.

"I know what I did!" Red Alert shouted, staring at the dentae. "Oh Primus, I'm sorry Bumblebee!"

Bumblebee just poked at the new hole in his mouth with his glossa, curious on where his dentae had gone. "Where'd it go?" Bumblebee asks with a frown.

"Red Alert just-wait. You didn't feel that?!" Longarm asks in shock.

"I felt a twinge but that was it." Bumblebee frowns. "I'm used to pain by now so that was like getting a scratch."

The way Bumblebee said that made Longarm want to go beat the slag out of the bastards that he shared a platoon with. Placing a servo carefully on the back of Bumblebees head he looks to Red Alert. "Can you get the scan while I hold him? We need to take him to a dentae specialist before they close for the night." Longarm frowns.

"Just hold him still and I can." Red Alert said quickly. "I'll call one of my brothers to do it for you guys. He's in the area with his mate so he should be able to do it."

"One of your brothers? How many do you have?" Bulkhead asks curiously.

"I lost track after seven but just know that I am not the youngest by any means." Red sighs as she picks up her scanner. "Now hold him still."

Longarm had Bumblebee wrap his arms around his neck before gently rubbing his back to keep him calm. "I'm hungry." Bumblebee whines softly.

"We'll get you something from the canteen before we go ok little buddy?" Bulkhead spoke up, carefully holding one of Bumblebees servos in his pincher.

"Ok." Bumblebee nuzzles his face into Longarms neck as his head was scanned over, making the grey bot blush slightly. "Red? Who am I going to see?"

"Hold on, hold, hold...ok!" Red Alert stopped the scan and smiled when everything that's been popping up as green from earlier scans were still green. "You're going to see my brother Ratchet. Back during the war he was able to get his licence for dental care when a lot of bots started having terrible dentae pain."

Placing the scanner down Red Alert carefuly pries the dentae out of the chewy toy and placed it into a little box hanging from a piece of string. "Plus he wanted to one up Pharma, just to make him angry." She chuckles.

Moving closer to Bumblebee she slips the necklace onto his neck. "To ensure you don't lose it. Dentae are small so they can easily get lost in subspaces or even arm compartments." She explains. "Now go. Ratchet is at his ship in the docks not far from here."

"Bumblebees mouth is bleeding." Bulkhead quickly spoke up.

Red Alert looks over and sure enough Bumblebees mouth was bleeding, a thin line of energon steadily trailing down his derma and dribbling off his chin. Looking around she tries to find something to stop the bleeding with. Smiling she walks to the jar of cotton balls and plucks on out. Walking over to Bumblebee she opens his mouth and places the cotton ball onto the hole where his dentae used to be.

"There, now go!" Red Alert quickly ushered Longarm and Bulkhead out out of the room.

When the door slammed close behind them Longarm and Bulkhead looked to the door before each other. A soft gulp made them look to Bumblebee with a frown. "Did you just eat the cotton ball little buddy?" Bulkhead asks with a frown.

"I got scared when the door was slammed..." Bumblebee shyly replies.

* * *

Bulkhead and Longarm look to each other with a frown. "This the place?" Longarm asks, looking up at the giant orange and red ship.

"It's the one that Red Alert sent me the directions to." Bulkhead frowns as he checks the directions again.

Longarm bounced Bumblebee a bit so he could slip his arm under his bottom a tad bit more as he walked up to the ships door. Giving a firm knock he steps back, waiting for it to open. After a few minutes Longarm tried again. Still nothing.

"Maybe they aren't home?" Bulkhead frowns. "Maybe we should take Bumblebee to a dentist in the morning. The trains doesn't run to the country until 5 anyway."

"I think that'd be better. What do you think Bumblebee?" Longarm asks the half asleep bug in his arms.

"Yeah...wanna sleep now." The yellow bug whispers just as his tank rumbled rather loudly.

Longarm frowns in thought. Hadn't they gotten snacks at the can...teen...oh. "We forgot to stop by the canteen." The grey bot groans, hiding his face in Bumblebees shoulder guard.

Bulkhead groans as his own tanks rumbled from the lack of food. Looking around he saw a fried carbon cluster stand not to far away from them. "I'll go get us a snack." He quickly says as he rushes over to the stand.

Longarm watches Bulkhead run away with a slight chuckle, settling down on the ships ramp. Looking back at Bumblebee he saw that the mech was fast asleep, his face slightly flushed. Frowning he lays him down on his lap and looks him over. His body was the correct temperature, his vents sounded even and he was able to feel the bots EM field perfectly and there wasn't a signal of distress.

"Huh...maybe it's from your fever earlier." Longarm frowns.

Leaning back against the ships doors Longarm sighs, still thinking about all the alternatives than the medicine that the doctors are forcing down Bumblebees throat just because it's frowned upon now even though they all worked in the past.

Touching his insignia his face twisted in disgust. How could the "better fraction" do this type of slag to bots who need help? "Hey now, that's no way to look at that pretty little thing."

Longarm quickly looked around himself until he spotted a bot smoking a cygar in the shadows. "Who are you?" Longarm asks, wrapping his arms around Bumblebee. He was getting ready to run since he couldn't fight while protecting Bumblebee. "Are you Ratchet?"

"Nah. Names Shadow Boom." The large bot smirks, taking a long drag from his cygar before throwing it to the ground. Crushing the cygar he walks over to Longarm and blows the smoke directly in his face. "Lookin' ta have some fun but ta have fun I need Shanix. So hand 'em over."

Longarm waved the smoke out of his face, his optics quickly becoming irritated. "I don't have any Shanix." Longarm frowns as he starts walking backwards from the mech.

Shadow Boom growls, his neon green optics flashing angrily, and quickly grabs Bumblebees arm. "Fine. Then I'm taking him. A pretty little thing like him should fetch me a good price." He grins.

Longarm wanted nothing more than to shift to give this mech a scare but he spotted a camera not to far from them on a pole. If he did that then it'd be caught on camera and he'd never see his friends again. "No way! Back off!" Longarm yelled until he felt something wrapping around his waist.

Looking behind him he sees a black tendril curling around his waist. Shocked he momentarily forgot about Shadow Boom. When he felt the small bot leaving his arms and all the air leave him at once, all in the blink of an eye, he let out a confused yet painful cry.

He could feel himself slumping to the floor before he even realized what was happening. A sudden splitting pain in his head made Longarm unable to see straight but that didn't stop him from looking for Bumblebee. He heard Bumblebee letting out a pained cry somewhere to the side but he couldn't pin point it.

"Bumble....bee!" Longarm yelled out, struggling to stand up.

When he finally managed to get to his pedes the whole world turned dark just as a blaster shot rang out.

* * *

_"I don't have a family anymore. The Autobots made sure of that."_

_"It's none of your business_ _Longarm_ _. I can take care of myself!"_

_"Hey_ _Longarm_ _? Do you think if I...if I disappeared tomorrow would anybody miss me?"_

_"_ _Longarm_ _? I want you to have this. It means a lot to me_ _. Please take care of it..."_

_"I'm sorry..."_

**_BANG!_ **

Gasping awake Longarm noticed something immediately. He wasn't on the cold hard ground, he was on a semi-cold medical slab. Slowly sitting up he looked around himself to see Bulkhead recharging on a slab next to his. Looking around he saw a cup of coolant on a rollable table next to him.

Taking another sweeping look he reaches for the glass but it was just out of reach without extending his arms. Groaning he extends his arm just the slightest bit when the doors slide open. "Ah so that's your power."

Looking to the doors Longarm sees a old medic with half a crest and a large scar that looks like something had been ripped away from the space. "You scared the pit out of my mate last night." The medic frowns as he walks over. "Be careful when you're moving around, you got a concussion."

"What...what happened?" Longarm asks as he rubs his head, only now feeling his headache.

"That's what I'd like to know. My mate found you and your big friend being protected by a little yellow bot with bandages on his head in front of the ship." The medic frowns as he grabs the glass for Longarm. "I tried to get closer but he either tried to bite at me or scratch me. Sharp claws on that one..."

Longarm took a big gulp of the coolant before he processed what was said. "Wait! Little yellow bot? Where is he?! Where's Bumblebee?!" He quickly asks, attempting to stand.

Unfortunately he stood a tad bit to fast and fell forward. Everything was blurry for a moment but his vision quickly cleared up as he was helped up. "Th-Thanks..." Longarm groans.

"Don't mention it. Your yellow friend is getting ready for his dental appointment. I checked his dentaes and I couldn't do anything so I set him up with a old colleague. He'll be able to help." The medic frowns. "I'm Ratchet by the way."

"Longarm." The grey bot replies. "What do you mean getting ready though? He already has his dentae in that little box Red Alert gave him."

"Didn't Red tell you? That new prescription is for something called "Clothes" that'll help him keep a steady temperate in case he doesn't wanna wear a regulator." Ratchet frowns. "He already had a "sweater" in his pack so my mate is trying to get him to put it on."

"Trying to?" Longarm frowns just as a crash came from outside the door.

"And failing." Ratchet chuckles.

A moment later the doors opened and a young red, white and blue truck bot walked in holding a wiggly Bumblebee, wearing the sweater he got yesterday. "Victory!" The truck bot laughs. "I cornered him and got an arm through and he did the rest!"

Ratchet chuckled softly and walked over to stop Bumblebee from kicking free. "Relax kid! Relax!" He spoke calmly, carefully gripping his pedes. "Alright your pedes feel fine and the temperature readouts for your legs are fine but your chest and arms are cold so you have to wear the sweater."

"It's itchy..." Bumblebee frowns.

"Hmm...it may be to big on him but I can let him use one of my hoodies." The truck bot comments.

"Might be for the best. We've prefected berth sheets and pillows but we still don't know how to make sweaters not itchy." Ratchet sighs as he takes the wiggly bug. "You go get it and I'll take him to his friends."

The truck bot nods and walks out. Ratchet turns to Longarm and chuckles at the look on his face. "What's wrong? Surprised?" He smirks.

"A-A bit..." Longarm clears his throat and chuckles. "Bumblebee, did you give them a hard time?"

"I'm not a sparkling Longarm!" Bumblebee frowns before he smiles proudly, itching at his neck. "But, yes!"

Longarm chuckles until what happened the night before flashed before his optics. "Bumblebee! Are you ok?!" He asks worriedly. "That bot grabbed you and-!"

"Bot? What bot?" Ratchet asks with a frown.

"He ran away when I screamed. I think a guard chased him away." Bumblebee spoke up, as if he wanted to make sure he was heard. "I'm pretty sure he was on something."

Longarm suddenly remembers the neon green optics and nods, seeming to agree with Bumblebee. "His optics were a strange color. He must've been strung out."

"From the sound of it it was probably Synthetic Energon." Ratchet sighs. "After a while it can cause the users optics to change color. I'm glad you kids were able to get away from that bot safely."

Bumblebee smiles as he scratches, seeming to be satisfied in himself. The bug seems to become quickly interested in the door, causing the older bots to become curious. Together the three watch the door until the truck bot walks in with a red hoodie and a stretchy loop of rubber.

The truck bot looks up and frowns. "Hi...?" He frowns. Looking behind him the truck bot grows curious. "Did I do something wrong? Why are you staring at me?"

Ratchet and Longarm look to Bumblebee as the bug attempts to wiggle out of Ratchets arms and get to the truck bot. Ratchet sets the yellow bot down but doesn't let him go. He holds him steady for a moment before slowly letting the smaller bot walk over to the truck bot.

"Optimus!" Bumblebee shouts excitedly, slowly but steadily shuffling over to him.

"Bumblebee!" The truck bot shouts back, trying not to laugh at the little waddle Bumblebee had.

Once Bumblebee was close enough the truck bot, now known as Optimus, scoops him up. "We'll be back soon Ratchet." Optimus smiles.

"Alright Optimus, I'll be here makin' sure these two get back to the boot camp." Ratchet frowns as he looks to Longarm.

"Bye Longarm!" Bumblebee calls over Optimus' shoulder.

"Bye Bumblebee!" Longarm smiles gently.

"I'm surprised the kid didn't act differently towards you. He was really worried over you two last night." Ratchet hums.

"Give him a minute."

"Longarms awake!" Came a happy voice from down the hall.

Ratchet and Longarm chuckle softly. "It takes him a bit longer to process things." Longarm explains.

"I see." Ratchet chuckles.

_A few minutes later..._

Bumblebee looks around the dental office, curious about the new place. He'd never been here before and he wanted to explore but when you can only walk for a minute at a time you have to rely on other bots to walk for you. "Ok Bumblebee I'm going to go check you in." Optimus spoke gently.

Bumblebee just nods and looks around the room curiously, chewing on the sleeve of the hoodie he was barrowing. There were models of dentae, building blocks and strange posters on the light blue walls that he couldn't read. "Optimus? What do the posters say?" He asks when the truck bot walks back over.

"Hm? Oh! One says to brush daily, another says to floss and the last one says to make sure to make an appointment every-" Optimus was quickly interrupted by a scream from the back of the office, frightening both Bumblebee and Optimus.

Bumblebee struggled to stand but as soon as he did he was heading straight for the door. "Bumblebee! No!" Optimus quickly scooped the mini up and sat him back down. "It's gonna be ok! That bot may just be afraid of the dental medic."

"Well he has the right idea!" Bumblebee frowns.

Chuckling Optimus sets Bumblebee down in a seat a bit further from the door. When the mini saw this he glared at Optimus. "You evil, evil mech."

Optimus shook his head fondly. He'd only just met Bumblebee but it feels like he's known him for years. Sitting down next to Bumblebee he holds the minis slightly shaking servo. "You're going to be ok Bumblebee." Optimus reassures him. "The dental medic is nice and he won't hurt you ok?"

Bumblebee just nods, looking down at his lap. What Optimus didn't know was that the mini bot could hear just about everything since his audios were stuck on high. So he could hear a drill, bots crying and bots getting put under anesthesia. So his stress levels were raising the more his listened until a bot came out from the back.

"Bumblebee?" The bot calls out.

Optimus stands and carries Bumblebee into the back until he was stopped. "Sir only he can come back." The bot frowns.

"But he can't walk that well. I need to carry him back there." Optimus frowns.

"We have wheelchairs. You can put him in one of them." The bot states.

Optimus wanted to argue but he knew he had to let the doctors do what they need to. So when the doctor walked over with a wheelchair he carefully placed Bumblebee down onto it. "Ok Bumblebee I can't go back with you but I'll be right out here ok?" Optimus spoke gently to the shaking mini.

Bumblebee tried to tell Optimus no and that he wanted him to come back but the only thing that came out was a few chirps and scared clicks. He didn't want to leave Optimus but he was already being wheeled away from the main hallway and down to the exam room.

The doc bot helped him onto the exam...chair? He thinks it's a chair. It's just oddly squishy and makes funny sounds when you scoot back on it. Laughing softly Bumblebee scoots around on the chair as the doctor asks him some questions.

He didn't know the answers to most of the questions but he answered the ones he did know. After a few more questions the bot left and he was alone. Frowning he looks around the room curiously. There were more models, more posters, a sink with cabinets and this time there were cotton balls and glossa pressers instead of toys.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. Maybe the other bots were just big scaredy bots. A moment later the door opens and a red mini walks in and closes the door. "Hello. My names Gears, I'll be helping you today." The bot spoke in a stern voice.

"Hi..." Bumblebee frowns.

"So what's the problem?" Gears asks as he grabbed a rolly stool.

"My dentae came out and Red Alert said to see Ratchet but Ratchet couldn't do anything so he made an appointment here." Bumblebee explains, proud of himself for remembering.

"Oh! You're the bot!" Gears chuckles, his scary demeanor instantly melting. "I got the X-Ray from Ratchet earlier and looked it over. No need to worry. The one that was accidentally pulled was a stubborn sparkling dentae so a new one will grow in soon."

Bumblebee sighed happily. Maybe he could just go back out to Optimus now. "But you do need a cleaning kid so sit tight." Gears says as he rolls over to the sink.

So close! Looking over at Gears, Bumblebee tried to think of a way to run when he heard another scream that made him cover his audios. Gears frowns and looks to the door. "Fragging Tracks. He's just getting a cavity filled, he doesn't need to be so dramatic." Gears sighs.

"Tracks?" Bumblebee asks before fake gagging. "I hate him."

"Yeah? He a bad therapist to ya something?" Gears asks as he washed his servos.

"He's my ex. He cheated on me after making me move in with him." Bumblebee frowns.

Gears seemed to choke on nothing as he looked back at Bumblebee. "Your ex?! You're 16!" He shouts.

Bumblebee shrugs. "One day I walked into his office and he said that we're dating. Ultra Magnus was ok with it so-where are you going?" He asks curiously as Gears walks out.

A moment later he heard Tracks cry out in pain before Gears came back in but not before shouting "HE'S BANNED!" down the hall. Bumblebee just watched Gears wash his servos again before looking to the door. "Did I say something wrong?" He frowns.

"No. Now sit back so I can check your dentae." Gears frowns as he puts on some gloves.

Bumblebee does as told and periodically glances to the door. "Is Tracks ok?" He questions.

"He's fine. I only punched him in the ball bearings." Gears frowns. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine. I think he just wanted to date me so he could get me out of my bad home." Bumblebee replies.

"Oh..." Gears frowns. "Oh well, he still deserved the punch to the bearings."

Bumblebee looked to Gears curiously when he saw the bot wheel over a little table of dental instruments. He looked at them a bit longer before his processor decided to be a jerk and replace the harmless instruments with ones that were used to hurt him.

Screaming he scrambles away from the table and straight off the chair. He struggled to stand but when he did he used his wheels on heels to escape faster. He kept looking back but instead of Gears he saw Perceptor soaked in his energon and guards chasing after him instead of the nurses.

Busting through the doors his wheels suddenly locked up and sent him to the ground. Crying out he lands on his arms but he quickly attempts to stand but when he couldn't find purchase he just curled into a tiny ball and let a light green spiked shield surround him.

Sobbing he pulls his legs to his chin and attempts to hide even though he knew he could still be seen. He could hear whispers in his audios, he could feel servos scratching and grabbing at him, he could hear screaming and pleads. "SHUT UP!" Bumblebee screams, just wanting the whispers to stop.

The whispers wouldn't stop, nor would the grabbing and scratching so Bumblebee attempted to scream louder than the voices, scream louder than the pleading. He was scared and he wanted to go home. To his real home.

All of a sudden there was a gentle touch somewhere on his head, making his scream choke off to a hiccup. It felt so...so familiar. Slowly opening his optics Bumblebee looked up to see Optimus gently rubbing his head, right between the horns. Hiccuping he stares at Optimus for a moment before looking around to see the posters on oral health, the light blue walls and a bunch of concerned bots staring at him.

Hiccuping he watches the illusion of Perceptors lab slowly melt away and be replaced by nurses, Gears, other doctors and patients. Sniffling he looks to Optimus with teary optics, only now realizing that the truck bot was speaking to him. "Hey little bee, you back with me?" He asks softly, a gentle smile on his face.

Bumblebee just nods as the shield disappeared. Wiping at his optics he grits his dentae in pain when he felt the bandaged one start to bleed. Hiccuping he continues to wipe at his optics until be was pulled into red arms and his head was placed onto a wide chest.

"He has...breaks like this every so often. When he has them he just needs somebody to help him out of it." Bumblebee heard Tracks say softly. "But I've never seen him calm down this fast with anybody other than Rung."

He heard Optimus hum softly as he started to rock back and forth. Taking a calming breath Bumblebee suddenly felt something wet going down his arms and neck but he payed it no mind, simply listening to Optimus' spark. "What do you need to do?" He heard Optimus ask.

"A simple cleaning but he panicked when he saw my gear. I don't know why." Gears replied.

"Can you do the cleaning while he's asleep?"

"I can but I'll need a bit of assistance. Plus I think you should take him next door to the clinic, he did a real number on himself. I'll tell Hoist your coming."

"Thank you."

Bumblebee yawned as he cuddled up to Optimus, his optics feeling heavy and a feeling of warmth covering him. "Take a nap Bumblebee. I'll wake you up when we go back to the ship." Optimus whispers gently to the mini in his arms.

"Ok..." Bumblebee whispered. "'M sorry...didn't wanna go back in _**click click**_."

Optimus frowns as Bumblebee falls to sleep in his arms. He wondered what the little guy was gonna say. Carefully standing he walks to the exit, carefully cradling the yellow bot. He's never seen the yellow mini before yet he felt so protective over him in just one day.

A few minutes pass and Optimus is walking into the dental office with a freshly bandaged, fast asleep Bumblebee - minus the hoodie. "Go right on back to exam room seven." The receptionist almost immediately said.

Optimus just nods and walks into the back, watching the numbers until he made it to seven. Knocking he stands in front of the door, not knowing if he could immediately go in. "Cone in!"

Optimus peeks in before walking in with Bumblebee. "You can set the him down in the chair. I managed to find a blindfold we can put on him incase he wakes up." Gears says as he holds up a piece of cloth. "Had to go to a questionable store to get it but hey, Ratchet said he was a good kid so what the pit?"

Optimus chuckles and carefully sets Bumblebee down on the chair. "Thank you for being accommodating."

"No problem. I've seen a lot worse in the war. I couldn't help those bots so I try to do the best I can to help bots now." Gears says as he puts on a face mask. "Alright, lets see those chompers of his."

Optimus chuckles and gives Bumblebees servo a gentle squeeze. He watched Gears use a little mirror to look at all of Bumblebees dentae and gums. To Optimus it all looked clean but to Gears he was a bit concerned. "Hm. There's some kind of build up on the backs of his cuspids." Gears frowns. "The rest of his dentae seem fine except the cuspids. It doesn't look like rust or anything dangerous so don't worry. If it won't come out with a cleaning then it may just be some stains, nothing to worry about."

Optimus breathed a sigh of relief and looks down at Bumblebee. Gently rubbing his head he chuckles at the nuzzle it got him. "So how long you know this kid?" Gears asks as he picks up a scrapper tool and little suction hose.

"Actually I just met him last night." Optimus replies.

"Really? Slag you're a good bot then." Gears huffs.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Optimus frowns.

"You barely know anything about him yet you brought him to his appointment, letting him use your hoodie, you carry him around and you treat him like he's your own sparkling." Gears explains. "I've never met a mech like you."

Optimus shook his head as he looked down at Bumblebee. He honestly didn't know what to say. He was just doing what his spark was telling him to do. "Strange..."

Optimus looks to Gears to see him glaring at the inside of Bumblebees mouth. "What's wrong?" Optimus asks.

"I got of the gunk off but I feel like I recognize it." Gears frowns. "It looks like...cranial fluid? Can't be more than a few weeks old."

"Red Alert mentioned something about him having a incident involving his head, hence why it's all bandaged. Maybe some fluid got back there?" Optimus tries to reason.

"Maybe." Gears replies as he places the suction hose into Bumblebees mouth. "However it got there I gotta get it out. Any longer and it could cause his gums to get infected."

Optimus nods and continues to watch over Bumblebee incase he showed signs of waking up. Soon the cleaning was over and Bumblebee was good to go. Gears gave Optimus a yellow dental brush and a tube of dental cleaning paste for Bumblebee.

Walking out Optimus waved goodbye to Gears as he carried Bumblebee out of the office. Once they were outside Optimus made sure Bumblebee was safely tucked into his arm for their journey back to the ship.

* * *

Longarm huffs softly as he places the last bag onto the ship. He and Ratchet had just spent little over an hour getting the "boot camp trios" bags and train tickets to make sure they could go to Bulkheads family farm today. Next they had to go buy some snacks for the long train ride there.

"Hey kid. Come here."

Longarm looks up from making sure Bumblebees pack was zipped up to see both Bulkhead and Ratchet standing in front of a door way, both smiling at something. Walking over he expect to see...ok he didn't know what he expected to see.

But when he saw Bumblebee in a red hoodie, curled up on Optimus' chest, fast asleep while said mech was fast asleep but had a protective hold on the mini he just chuckled.

"Maybe we should take you to the farm. It doesn't look like those two are gonna let each other go anytime soon." Ratchet chuckles.

"What about your schedule?" Longarm asks.

"Ah screw it. There's an electrical storm in the area we're supposed to clean that could give us trouble so we could lose some time." Ratchet says as he walks towards the control room. "You two can come with me if you want so we can let them rest."

Bulkhead and Longarm look to each other before nodding. Grabbing the bags the two walk to the main control room, Bulkhead a bit more excited than Longarm.

_A few minutes later_

Longarm looks down at Cybertron, suddenly feeling small compared to it. It almost felt...surreal. It'd been so long since he'd actually seen the planet or it's moons and when he did he felt like he should be doing something, anything but he didn't know what. "Hey kid! Lunch!"

Looking away from the window he sees Bulkhead carrying in a tray of plates stacked high with sliced fruit and tall sandwiches. Snickering he walks over and takes a plate. "Thank you." He chuckles. "But why are the sandwiches so tall?"

"You kids are to skinny so eat up." Ratchet states as he eats a rust apple slice from his plate. "Bulkhead told me you guys have to pay for your fruit at the camp so I may have gone a bit over board."

Longarm chuckles and sits down at a little table that had been set up in the control room. "So how do you two feel?" Ratchet asks, suddenly in medic mode.

"My head still hurts a bit but it's do able." Longarm answers as he munches on a chrome berry.

"I feel fine. I still don't understand what happened last night though." Bulkhead frowns.

Ratchet nods with a frown. "I wasn't able to find any security footage unfortunately which is strange. When I checked it earlier it suddenly just cut out after that mech blew smoke in your face Longarm."

Longarm frowns and rubs his head. "Maybe he had a disruptor or a camera malfunctioned?"

"Possibly. I'll call in some favors to see if we can't find this bot. He shouldn't be able to get away with the slag he did to you." Ratchet frowns, taking a bite of his sandwich.

Longarm and Bulkhead look to each other with a curious look. "Ratchet? Why do you wanna get this bot so bad?" Bulkhead asks.

Sighing Ratchet put his sandwich down and wipes his mouth. "I don't like that bots like that one are running around Cybertron and call themselves Autobots. It just doesn't seem right." Ratchet frowns.

Longarm and Bulkhead nod, seeming to take it as a good answer. After that they eat in silence until the ship starts to let out a soft binging sound. Ratchet gets up and goes to the controls. "Looks like we're above the farm. We'll land in about five minutes." Ratchet calls out. "If you're not done then hurry it up."

Longarm looks down at his still full plate and gulps. Picking up his sandwich he attempts to take a big bite out of it but it barely does anything to the behemoth. The doors open a second later and Optimus walks in, holding servos with Bumblebee. "We heard the alarm." Optimus says as he lifts up a tired looking Bumblebee.

Yawning Bumblebee snuggles into Optimus' neck, his legs feeling like they were on fire. "The ships gonna land in about five minutes so good timing." Ratchet smiles as he walks over to his mate.

They share a quick kiss before Ratchet takes Bumblebee. "How long did he walk?" He asks, carefully holding Bumblebee.

"About three minutes." Optimus smiles. "I taught him how to do stretches to help his mobility and he started walking around in the rec room."

"Legs hurt..." Bumblebee whispers, already partially asleep.

"That's what happens when you exercise kiddo." Ratchet chuckles. "Don't worry, you can rest."

Bumblebee yawns and wraps his arms around Ratchets neck. He felt safe with Ratcbet and Optimus, it felt like his spark was finally beating normally. "Wow...I've never seen him act this way with anybot he just met before." Bulkhead spoke softly, watching Bumblebee cuddle with Ratchet.

Ratchet and Optimus look to each other. They seemed to be sharing an idea as they look to Bumblebee. Optimus went to say something before the ship told them to get into seats to prepare for landing. The two seemed to share a saddened look before sitting down and buckling up.

Longarm and Bulkhead quickly did the same, watching Optimus with Bumblebee the whole time. They didn't know why but they felt like air in the room had soured a bit. "We're landing a bit away from the farm so we don't startle the animals or wreck any plants by mistake." Ratchet states as he flips a few switches on a panel.

"Don't worry we can walk from here." Bulkhead reassured the medic.

Ratchet just nods, keeping a protective grip on Bumblebee. It honestly felt like his spark was breaking all over again but he also knew he had no rights to Bumblebee. He wasn't his sire or anything so he didn't have a right to keep him on the ship. Sighing he just holds the mini tighter which earned him a soft squeak.

"There's something I should tell you about your friend." Optimus calls out to Bulkhead and Longarm.

The two look to each other before looking to Optimus. "What's wrong? Did something happen?" Bulkhead asks.

"What happened?" Longarm questions.

"When we were at the dental care office Bumblebee had some type of episode. He panicked when he saw some of the dental instruments and he started screaming and scratching at himself. He cut deep enough to make himself bleed." Optimus answers, seeming afraid of their reactions.

"What?!" Both mechs shout, startling Bumblebee awake.

As soon as the ship landed Bulkhead and Longarm unbuckled themselves and ran to Ratchet. Bulkhead carefully took Bumblebee and rolled up the sleeves of the hoodie to see new bandages on the minis arms. Moving the hoodies hood out of the way he saw bandages on Bumblebees neck and even on his shoulders, slightly under his shoulder guards.

Longarm gently lifts up one of Bumblebees smaller servos and sees a bit of dried energon on the minis digits. Carefully lifting the hem of the hoodie and saw bandages on his stomach as well. Gently lifting Bumblebees face he saw a small bandage on his chin as well and it all just made his blood boil. But not at Bumblebee, but at Optimus.

Turning to the truck bot he goes to yell until he felt something nuzzle against his servo. Stopping he looks to see Bumblebee had squished his face against Longarms servo with a big sleepy smile on his face. "I'm ok Longarm, Bulky." Bumblebee spoke softly. "He stayed with me and helped me out of it all. He stayed with me, he held me and he let me listen to his spark beat."

Longarm and Bulkhead look to each other before looking to Bumblebee. "He wasn't like all the other bots who hurt me because I'm scared all the time. He held me and made sure I didn't feel alone." Bumblebee continued. "I felt like I do when I'm with you two!"

"How do you feel when you're with us little buddy...?" Bulkhead asks softly.

Bumblebee had to think for a moment, like he couldn't remember what the word was but when he did he smiled really bright, brighter than Bulkhead and Longarm had ever seen.

"Happy and safe!" Bumblebee beamed.

Longarm felt his spark skip a beat yet warm all at the same time as he looked down at Bumblebees bright smile. It'd been so long since he'd seen a real, genuine smile on the minis face. He'd seen through all the ones that Bumblebee had worn before.

He knew that he had just attempted to smile to make Longarm and Bulkhead smile too. To make them feel less helpless when they knew they couldn't help their friend. He'd always notice the tense facial wires and empty optics during all of the past "smiles" but this one, this one he saw the smile in the minis optics and how it just didn't seem forced in the slightest.

Chuckling Longarm pulls Bumblebee into a hug, carefully holding the back of the minis head to his shoulder. "We're happy with you too little 'bee." Longarm smiles.

Bumblebee laughs as he wraps his arms as best as he could around his bigger friend until he felt somebody pick both of them. He laughed when he saw Bulkheads dopey looking smile. "Bulkys happy too!" Bumblebee giggles.

Bulkhead laughs happy and hugs his friends. "That's right little buddy! I'm happy too!" Bulkhead smiles, small oily tears forming in his optics.

Ratchet and Optimus softly as they stand up and walk over to the trio. They thought they were acting really cute and Optimus felt honored that Bumblebee felt safe and happy with him. Clearing his throat Optimus walks forward.

"I'm sorry for not telling you when we got back but Bumblebee was really tired and fell asleep on me. I attempted to stay up but I fell asleep as well..." Optimus admits, looking down.

Longarm and Bulkhead chuckle softly and shake their heads. "It's alright, we forgive you. Plus, we know what it's like to have Bumblebee fall asleep on you. You're afraid to move incase you wake him up, you're afraid your gonna squish him..." Bulkhead frowns.

"Or that you could wake him up from a good dream." Longarm says as he gently pets Bumblebees head. "Trust us, we know how you felt. We were in the hospital with him all throughout his stay."

Ratchet and Optimus share a look before nodding. "Thanks...I'm still sorry for not telling you immediately..." Optimus frowns until they heard something knocking on the glass nearby.

Frowning the group look to the windshield to see a black and gold bot staring in at them. All the bots except Bumblebee cried out in shock, the mini just waved to the bot. The black and gold bot waved back before gesturing to all the bots then down. He wanted them to come out.

Bulkhead walks over to the window, still carrying his friends, and peeks out. "Carrier! Sire!" He calls out when he saw two bots standing near the ships front.

Bulkhead rushed down with his friends as Ratchet opened the airlock to let them out. As soon as those doors opened Bulkhead was jumping out and carefully putting his friends down. As soon as their pedes hit the ground Bulkhead hugged his one of his parents tight.

"Bulky!" The two bots smiled happily.

Longarm chuckles as he lifts up Bumblebee, placing a arm under his aft. "Bulkys supper happy now." Bumblebee smiles.

"That he is." Longarm chuckles.

The two were so distracted by the happy Bulkhead that they failed to notice a herd of electro sheep were walking their way. That is until they were completely surrounded. Longarm felt something soft rub against his leg, making him look down but when he saw all the sheep he let out an embarrassing yelp.

The little family looked over and chuckled. "Looks like they like ya Longarm!" Bulkhead calls out.

Longarm attempts to use his power to escape but no luck. He was trapped by the sheep. "Help! They like my legs!" Longarm calls out, afraid to move now.

But he ultimately had no choice when one rammed into the back of his legs and sent him to the ground. Crying out in shock he lost his grip on Bumblebee which sent the mini to the ground. Longarm attempted to sit up but the last thing he saw before his vision was blocked by soft fluffy stuff was Bumblebee being dragged away by the hood by a sheep.

Somewhere above Longarm he heard a deep laugh that made him frown in confusion. The electro sheep on his head was carefully taken off of him which allowed him to look up. "Looks like your little friend belongs to the sheep now." The big bot chuckles.

Longarm chuckles as he was able to sit up. "That was weirdly soft and fluffy. What is that thing?" Longarm asks as he dusts himself off.

"This is a Electro Sheep. They're the main supply of carbon fiber wool." The big bot explains, gently petting the sheep.

"I've never seen one of these guys before." Longarm admits as he carefully pets the side of the sheep's stomach. "Why do they call them Electro Sheep though?"

Longarm quickly got his answer when the sheep chose to shock him with a bolt of electricity. Pulling his servo away he shook it to get the sting to go away. "Nevermind." He frowns.

The bot holding the sheep chuckles. "My names Roadbuster! Nice to meet ya!" The bot spoke with a smile, holding out his servo.

"Longarm, nice to meet you." Longarm smiles as he shakes Roadbusters servo.

"Let 'em go! Let 'em go!" He heard somebody else yell. "Not food or baby! Let 'em go!"

Turning Longarm watches as Bulkhead and a minibot have to play tug of war for Bumblebee with the sheep. "That's my mate, Hubcap." Roadbuster smiles.

Longarm frowns and looks between the two before looking to Bulkhead. "Uh...."

"I'm Bulkheads carrier, Hubcap is his sire." Roadbuster chuckles. "We always get concerned stares so don't worry."

Longarm nods, happy that he hadn't offended Roadbuster. "Oi! Let him go!" Hubcap groans before he loses grip and shoots backwards, landing on his back. "I'm ok!"

Bulkhead chuckles at his sire, still fighting to get his little buddy free. "Come on you guys he has to take his medicine!" Bulkhead tells the sheep.

The electro sheep almost immediately let Bumblebee go when they heard the word "medicine" which made Bumblebee shoot into Bulkheads front. Bulkhead ends up landing back on the ground near his sire with a giggling Bumblebee on top of him. "Hi sire." Bulkhead laughs.

"Hi Bulky!" Hubcap laughs.

"That was fun! Lets do it again!" Bumblebee laughs, attempting to climb down but Bulkhead suddenly tickling him made him stop.

Laughing Bumblebee attempted to wiggle away but didn't quite make it. "Help! Help Longarm! Help Bee!" Bumblebee laughs, reaching out for the mech.

Longarm chuckles and extends his arms to help him but he quickly gets rammed into by another sheep. Yelping he ends up under a group of fluffy sheep once more. "Help!" He laughs.

Roadbuster and Hubcap share a laugh at the younger bots' expense. "Well I have a feeling things are gonna get more lively around here!" Hubcap laughs as he attempts to tickle Bumblebee too.

Roadbuster chuckles, happy to see his mate having fun. "Alright, alright! Let's get you three to the house! We're supposed to get some rain tonight so we have a lot to do!" Roadbuster chuckles.

"Aww." Hubcap whines as the Electro Sheep all 'baahhhh' sadly.

"Now wheres..." Roadbuster looks around to find somebody and looks down to see the black and gold bot. "Can you take the Electro Sheep to the rain barn? We need to make sure they don't get hurt."

The black and gold bot nods before whistling to get the sheep to follow him. The bot and sheep rush away as Ratchet and Optimus walk down the ramp with the trios bags. "Well I'll be." Ratchet chuckles. "Roadbuster! Hubcap!"

Hubcap and Roadbuster laugh when they saw Ratchet. "Ratchet! Holy primus! We haven't seen ya since you were Hubcaps size!" Roadbuster laughs.

"Yeah!" Hubcap smiles before processing what was said. Frowning he glares at his mate with pretend hurt. "Hey!"

Roadbuster just laughs and shakes his head. Oh he had a feeling this week was gonna be eventful.


End file.
